Enamored
by Bella.oreo1
Summary: She was supposed to be his right hand man, she was supposed to be the supporting role for him. She didn't account for her parents holding a secret from her or that she would have the chance to help her comrades have a better future by going back in the past, albeit as a little girl again. She will stop the Kyuubi attack, massacre, and a certain teenager from drowning. ShisuiXSakura
1. Tears For The Fallen

**Chapter 1: Tears For The Fallen**

Pastel hues colored the vast welkin. The descending sun radiated an orange glow upon the many buildings and lush trees, kissing the onlooking silhouette adorning an ivory robe and crimson Hokage hat. The gentle breeze caused the robe to sway to the side, waving the proud kanji that read 'Rokudaime' on the back, slightly ruffling the protruding locks of pink hair, as emerald spherules watched over the village almost impassively.

She loved her village dearly. The well-being of Konohagakure and her fellow comrades were of foremost and utmost importance, and she took on that burden with dauntless valor.

Having acquired the ability to perform shadow clones greatly aided her duties of expertly juggling between wracking her brain over the unceasing stacks of papers to sign, to her work at the hospital, and roaming the streets of her beautiful home, observing the streets behind the shadows. She assigned missions, arranged funerals, and maintained the wealth and peace within the walls of Konoha. The village continued to flourish under her authority.

Sakura was always ready and willing to give up her life for the sake of the village, for better or worse. That is what a true Hokage did, carrying out her duty as the heiress of the will of fire, resuming the wishes and works of her predecessors.

But it was not her burden to shoulder in the first place.

Sakura Haruno had become a legend in her own right, capable of bringing forth raw, unadulterated power from her rather small, petite frame. She was also equally capable of bringing forth life and relief upon those under her care, giving her patients a second chance with the green glow her hands illuminated and set upon them briefly before she would carry on her way.

She was feared as she was admired. Her name became known throughout the five nations. She had gained respect from the other Kage and many shinobi who knew of her. Many reveled in her ability to heal hundreds at once, her ability to keep moral up and maintain her strong poise, and walk, that held a sort of swagger that spoke of her unbending resolve in the face of the enemy.

Sakura had carved a name for herself during the Fourth Shinobi War. She had surpassed her master, one of the famed legendary sannin. As she walked on the streets people would bow their heads out of respect to her, many children giving her flowers and gifts they made by hand, bringing forth a small smile on the Hokage's face. She was detached, but she was still very kind. Many referred her as the Blossom Queen, for the bud she once was, unfurled into a beautiful Sakura blossom.

But she figured she had wilted too fast after the war.

"What is it, Sasuke?" She inquired in her usual business tone, drawing in a long breath from her cigarette and exhaling a smoky billow in front of her.

The Uchiha stood at her side, keeping a steady gaze on her heart-shaped face, as she kept looking over the village atop her perch on the Hokage mountain. When she wasn't in the hospital, over by the cemetery, or at her respectful desk in the tower, he usually found her there, watching over her beloved village as the other stone-carved faces of the other Hokage did. Sakura's had also been expertly carved, resting adjacent to Tsunade's face, with her yin seal a prominent aspect of her.

He wrinkled his nose distastefully at the cancer stick that rested lazily in between her fore and middle fingers.

Many had become appalled and baffled when Sakura started smoking, even when she herself knew too well of its many health degrading properties and side affects. Ino had stomped right to her best friend and tried snatching the pack away from her, to no avail.

Konoha 12 realized that drinking and smoking had become her saving grace, her crutch. However it still didn't sit right with them that their friend succumbed to habits as she chose. Sai had successfully added drawing lessons to her attention, keeping the sake and cancer sticks away from her for a bit longer as she learned how to draw.

Yes, the village was continuing to flourish under the kind medic's care, but the memories of the war lay a heavy blanket of despair to still hover around the war veterans.

Sasuke averted his gaze to rest at the dwindling sun, not able to look at her expressionless face that was only a barrier of what she actually felt.

After the war, Sasuke had come to realize his mistakes as he had fought Naruto the last time. He also came to realize that Sakura loved him, but not in the romantic way, as both once thought. She really only wanted Sasuke to learn to love himself. She felt it was her task to save him from the darkness. That's how kind she was. She always believed in her boys, and never closed either of them off, no matter what.

Now that he was redeemed and his Curse of Hatred no longer ruled over him, he felt indebted to his teammate. They would never be lovers, but he was willing to save her from her despair.

"You are becoming more introverted." He deadpanned.

"Am I now?" She responded humorlessly. She had become used to his visits, as he was her right-hand man and she could see even as he was still platonic in his wording, he along with her other close comrades were worried about her.

It was almost routine to her. Her and Sasuke would exchange words, no matter how few, and then revel in the peaceful silence that would always come next. But it seemed Sasuke was tired of silence.

"You can't go trough this all on your own. Isn't that what Naruto, Sensei and you have tried ingraining in my head?" Sasuke demanded, his tone more demanding and louder than he originally wanted.

Sakura let out another billow of smoke before turning towards the Uchiha, locking eyes with him, as the next words she uttered lowly were nonetheless eloquent and served to irk the taller man at her excuse for her withdrawal from others unless she deemed necessary.

"The burdens you and I bear are completely different. None of you need to be caught in it any more than you already are. Everyone has their own baggage to sort out, they need to focus on healing and forgiveness."

Sasuke grabbed both her arms, forcing her to face him and meet his smoldering gaze, foot smashing the dropped cancer stick.

"Are you stupid, Sakura?" He asked bitterly, narrowing his mismatched orbs as her emerald gems took in his change of attitude.

"There is no time for me to sulk now, I did that when I had to help bury our comrades. All five nations are at peace, and I will not let Naruto's selfless acts be forsaken!"

His grip only tightened on her, teeth exposed as he attempted to come up with something for her to see reason. "Stand down, Sasuke." Her tone was unamused and an indirect warning.

"I have more urgent things to tend to, not to indulge in my inner turmoil. As the Hokage I have a whole village to think about, and what's worse is when your own parents are not supportive of my position and kick me out of the house precariously, leaving me to suspect they have a secret hidden from me, their daughter. Along with that, Naruto still hasn't come out of his two month coma before naming me the Rokudaime in his place. I don't need any more of you or anyone else's pity or bullshit about my introverted state, so I advice you to get your hands off me before I make you, Uchiha!"

She hadn't intended to be so harsh with her former teammate, but they all needed to move on, and it only served to undress her of her stoic facade when they all looked at her with sadness.

The last living Uchiha gave her a slightly pained glance, before loosening his hold on her to a soft caress, "You don't protect your heart by acting like it's not there." He muttered sagely.

The medic's eyes widened at his blunt statement, mouth slightly ajar as she was taken aback while he continued to stare her down.

It was true in a sense, she mentally acknowledged. She finally gained the admiration of her peers, but at the cost of her happiness and many lives had been lost. At times, she would still shed a lone tear as she stood over the endless rows of tombstones with the name's of her fallen comrades inscribed on them. She had failed them, she had to bury them. Her eyes would cloud over as she saw things that weren't there, adorning a thousand yard stare as happy and depressing memories would ensnare her into a state of reminiscence.

She was the Hokage, but it was supposed to be a mere substitute act, as this position was meant for Naruto, not her. Nonetheless she would go down in the history books as one of the strongest, steadfast, and intelligent. She would be an inspiration for medics and Kunoichi for future generations, but the books would be biased, as they would fail to recognize she was also one of the most hollow, heart-broken, and numb.

Hushes spread out as far and wide as the wind, of her accomplishments, that she was one of the most powerful of women, rogue ninja having their knees shake and their lips quiver when her name was whispered, her reputation for being merciless upon opposing enemies making them pale. Tsunade having passed on the torch to her apprentice, an honorable Kunoichi and now Hokage.

Sakura the woman was broken, but Sakura the Rokudaime carried on admirably, ceasing to falter at any given odds, as her love for her village and comrades lay before her own life, as she demonstrated graciously on countless occasions.

She awaited the day Naruto would wake up.

Having visited his bedside at the hospital, checking his vitals and just talking to him, even though a one-sided conversation was awkward, she knew he was listening.

The council had been unrelenting and a constant annoyance to the pinkette, as they deemed it better to end his despair as they felt Sakura was doing miraculously with being Hokage. They held no belief in him, they jumped to the thoughts of him dying right in front of Sakura, continuing to discuss the dangers of his death with the nine bijuu's power that lay in him, them going on havoc in the village if he were to pass.

Her foot came down at that point, ordering security to his room and sent the two remaining council members her most blood-curdling stare that promised things worse then death.

Sakura had later agreed to have most of the nine bijuu's powers placed inside her body, so the collateral damage would be less if the unfavorable did occur.

She was brought out of her stupor as Sasuke bent his head down to place a chaste kiss on Sakura's forehead, where the lilac byakugou lay.

He just stared at her baffled face, the shock evident on her face that used to hold more indifference than any other emotion these days.

"You have people who love you, Sakura. This part of you, this withdrawal is not good on you, Sakura. You became this strong with the help of your emotions. Not your impassiveness or facade you wear." Her eyes softened at his words, still recovering from his rather bold action.

Before she could answer him, Shikamaru made his appearance by running towards the two teammates. The perturbed look on his face had both Sakura and Sasuke on edge, muscles immediately tensing.

"Hokage-sama, it's Naruto, someone broke through his security and injected a poison in him." He said hurriedly, watching as horror and resentment colored their faces as the three of them proceeded to dive down the mountain head-first, twisting their bodies and jumping from the rooftops.

 _'Damn it! You can't die on me, Naruto!'_ She spoke repeatedly in her head like a mantra, praying she would make it in time. He always knew how to drive her into a cold sweat.

The two men flanked her as she charged through the hospital, reaching his room where the guards lay carelessly on the floor, unmoving, already dead, as other medics served to carry them away from the scene.

His heart monitor screamed erratically, as her hand moved right to his chest to analyze his vitals.

The poison attacked all his cells, a poison his body wasn't immune to, and blacked off the bijuu's chakra from filtering it out of him.

 _She was the Hokage as a substitute._

 _'BEEP"_

 _He was supposed to take over when he woke up._

 _'BEEP"_

 _She was supposed to watch over him beofre the day came of his awakening._

 _'BEEP"_

 _She deemed she wilted too fast after the war..._

His heart stopped.

She kept going.

"Hokage-sama."

She wasn't listening to anyone. She kept pouring her chakra in his limp body, forcing air down his trachea as she pumped his chest vainly.

"Hokage-sama! Please stop!"

She heard anguished screaming. She wasn't aware it was her own voice that poured out all the despair and raw emotion she lay beneath her core. She was seeing red, blood. Her mouth tasted metallic and the bubbling anger she held. Her left eye bled of the angry mangekyou sharingan, her vision continuing to go black, before she was taken over completely.

* * *

 **So sorry this story was posted late...the website went down and I had to recollect my ideas and such. But I hope this was an okay start to my new story. There will be much more on the way, don't worry! Please let me know what you think!**


	2. Repercussions

**Chapter 2:** **Repercussions**

Throbbing pain was the first thing she registered, as her consciousness was seeping back into her tattered, and disheveled form. Sharp jabs pushed at different parts of her skull, like something was trying to make a mad escape. The tiny frame instinctively raised both hands to cradle her head on either side, feeling as if it would fall off from the unrelenting pangs she was experiencing. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, as she tightened her eyes to stop the flow of tears from further saturating her hair. Her body had been in a fetal position for several hours in an attempt to retain body heat against the chill of the night.

The images behind her lids played mercilessly in a kaleidoscope formation, replaying her source of anguish like a mantra. Her attempts were futile to rid herself of the slideshow, as she thrashed her body around precariously as familiar shapes and colors attacked her, internally screaming as her depression was damaging her physically.

The weeping medic observed in choked desolation, as the scene of the hospital resumed its display as Naruto's chest steadily came to a halt altogether, continuing to pumping it vainly and forced oxygen down his throat. She counted in her head, keeping her rhythmic ministrations to restart his heart. She realized she was remembering her last moments before she went out of control, but she selfishly hoped the events would unfold on a brighter note as she looked upon the statue of a man she dearly loved.

His monitor and the voices of the other medics remained background noise to her, her sole priority at the moment was to keep the Uzumaki alive. She retained the thin string of hope as her right hand hovered over his heart trying to push and pull the intruding toxins and her left did the pumping and plugging his nose.

She yelled out for a medic with lightning affinity to jolt his heart to restart, but it fell on deaf ears. They all bowed their heads at their superior, looking upon the Rokudaime in silent condolence. Sakura regarded the motionless statures of her comrades through the corner of her eye, hands busying themselves on Naruto's chest.

She cursed each of them in her head, she did not have any interest in being around people who did not believe in her or Naruto. She did not appreciate quitters, and they were not helping to save his life. Her vision was becoming fogged, the pit of her stomach churning around dark slush that threatened to instigate her to do things she would later frown upon.

His heart had stopped but she kept going. It seemed she was his last chance, everyone else seeming to have given up on him while she slaved in keeping him alive.

"Hokage-sama."

 _'You can't die on me now! You are so close to your dream!'_ She yelled at him internally, not trusting her voice as the seconds passed. Her breaths were labored from her practices, making her feel light-headed as her heart pounding out of its rib-cage deafened her.

She bent her head down to plug his nose and pushed all her breath into his lungs once more, her lips meeting his chapped, cold ones as she felt for any sign of his jugular tightening at all, any sort of wheezing or twitch from him. Her eyes squeezed shut as she fought against other emotions that threatened to play at her before she felt intruding hands try to pry her from his lifeless form.

The Rokudaime's hold on him was strong, desperately focusing on the blonde, wanting to see him open his cerulean blue eyes once more. To put her heart at ease and to giggle at her that everything was going to be okay.

His face started to become wet, as hot droplets escaped the stoic Hokage. Her carefully constructed mask of indifference and fake smiles crumbled like sand at her feet, for all to see the ocean of pent up raw emotions make way to her pretty face.

"Hokage-sama! Please stop!"

Gone.

Gone was the exuberant and bubbly knucklehead who saved her and many others countless times. Gone was his contagious smile that uplifted the fallen and despondent. Gone were those cerulean blue gems which would hold an impassioned glint when he spoke of becoming the Hokage, and would turn navy when he looked at her with fervent adoration. Gone was his chance at accomplishing his long-life dream of becoming the Hokage.

Naruto was the head, the face, the heart of Konohagakure, with his preeminent ways of saving those assumed nonredeemable, and equal in talent for keeping up moral and motivating others to push forward. Naruto had long surpassed the previous Hokage, with ample dedication to showcase for as well. He was what others aspired to be, he was the savior who was the inspiration of several thousand. Sasuke was the secret weapon and backbone of the village, with the right ratio of cold intelligence under his belt, as well as Naruto's best friend, who he sacrificed so much to save him of his inner turmoil. Sakura was the neck of Konoha, the median that kept her boys in check and helped veer and turn them of less favorable detours for the village and their sakes.

She was supposed to be his right hand to turn to and assist in his works. She was supposed to be there for her boys and be the supporting role for Naruto. Now that opportunity was brutally snatched under their noses.

Hands, gentle and soft, and others calloused and firm, encased her arms, shoulders and waist as her protuberant eyes locked on the peaceful face. Her arms and midsection wriggling to be free from the intruding limbs. She felt the extending black rope wrap snugly around her body to still her movements, while Sasuke tried to get her attention on him.

A thin white sheet descended atop the man, delicately masking his features, acting like a closing curtain of her performance. Only a bit of his hand was protruding, whispering for her to hold it in her own, nudging her to keep trying to save him. He wasn't suppose to die here. She swore to protect his position as Hokage and make sure he had a full recovery from his coma that occurred shortly after his brawl against Sasuke.

Her master passed on the torch to her apprentice...

But to her utter dismay, Sakura also inherited her Shishou's notorious luck.

Something finally snapped the leash she had chained her beasts with, as she caught glimpse of the medic trying to wheel him away from her. Ear-splitting choruses of ululates filled the small room. The black slush probed out of her abdomen and started taking over her senses.

She lost him. Even the howling sounds from the bijuu inside her spoke in harmony.

Naruto had been her last anchor of hope. Many of her comrades had fallen to the afterlife at her feet and she had been at her wits-end. In the end she would always be useless. Team Seven was forever broken, no longer standing side by side with her two boys and sensei.

The sight of losing her loved one was once again another eye-opener as the mangekyou sharingan spiraled in her left eye. Sakura resumed to staring with feral intensity at the Uchiha that tried to pin her down on the floor, before she fully succumbed to the hatred brewing within her.

He regarded her seriously with a recessive emotion that was almost pleading at her, but she was now far from seeing clearly and rationally. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and her pearly teeth elongated into fangs and nails to claws, as her wailing screams turned to malicious, animistic howls. Locks of hair whipping around her face from under the hat.

His scent was receding away as well as his chakra scent, that reminded her of sunshine and lemons.

Her vision then closed in on her, welcomed by darkness.

* * *

"NOOO!" the little girl screeched, abruptly sitting upright, before turning to her side and expelling the bile that rose up from the sudden exertion. The neighboring birds and rodents flapped and scurried away at the distraught aura and noise that ruffled the area.

She let out a pained groan from the disuse of her limbs, using clammy hands to wipe her brow of perspiration, noting distastefully that her hair stuck to her face and neck like a second skin. The tears that trickled down her cheeks and length of her neck were cold against her pyretic face. She was surely going to get a fever if she didn't move soon.

Then she paused in wiping her nose of snot when she regarded her attire. The sleeves of her robe were way too big for her arms, and the body of the robe was now discolored from blood and grime, acting like a long blanket that went past her shortened legs. She vaguely wondered who's blood she was practically bathing in, staring at her small frame in bewilderment and fear.

The left side of her face was also painted in blood, the source from her eye socket, as she noted her eye felt strained from overuse. The throbbing from her head slowly decreased in magnitude as she sent soothing chakra to her skull, dulling the aches, massaging her temples to rid of discomfort, and help unclog the optic nerve as to not be hindered with temporary blindness.

Taking slow, deep breaths to calm her hysteria, she listened for the crickets, taking in the lush forest and full moon that illuminated the night sky for her.

The slow, harmonic cricket chirps informed her it was only slightly above ten degrees Celsius that evening. Given her surroundings, she knew she was in Fire Country, but it troubled her as to why she was in the body of a fragile child, and what happened to everyone. She had abandoned all sense of rationality and control over the loss of Naruto, and put many lives in danger from her spontaneous actions.

She bowed her head in shame. Some Hokage she was, putting everyone in danger instead of being the protector.

Tears still trickled past her nose and hit the baggy shirt and forest floor beneath her, yet her veridians eyes were dull and unseeing.

Small hands gripped the soft grass tightly, occasionally ripping out a few fistfuls in her exasperation.

Sakura felt better and safer when she knew what was going on, of the situation's status so she had the ability to conjure up a method to carry out the rest.

' _What the hell happened?_ ' She inquired no one in particular.

' _Beats me, kit._ ' At the voice Sakura froze and put the name to match.

' _Isobu_?' She tried cautiously. She nearly forgot about the nine powerhouses she kept in her belly. She had managed to befriend them but others opened up to her slower than others, while Kurama was more stubborn, and she didn't press anything on the bijuu, they were not beasts as she had once thought before. But seeing as Naruto was able to treat them as equals, she would see them the same as he did when he was still alive...

' _Sakura, now's not the time, you have alerted anyone within a two-mile radius of your location, so you best move before the enemy takes advantage of your current state.'_ Informed Son Goku in a serious baritone way that left no room for questioning.

Realizing her acute disposition, she bit her lip and set her eyes to focus in burning fervor, scrambling to her feet.

A sharp jab made her pause in her escape, arching her back to curve at an odd angle, shifting her weight to her right leg.

'Damn it all!' Along with her affliction, exhaustion, famine and haggard state, she had a twisted ankle in her left side to hinder her in survival, making her grit her teeth and narrow her eyes in irratness.

The hairs on the nape of her neck rose with apprehension, turning to look westward.

They were coming, fast. Sakura had to act faster, slightly perturbed that they didn't even attempt to mask their chakra, coming straight for her where the screaming had originated.

Placing a low rank genjutsu around the area to erase any traces of disturbance and blood, she effortlessly masked her chakra and swiftly hopped up the length of the nearest tree, coming to a particular branch that would help hide her better from the oncoming intruders. Pressing firmly into the bole, she listened for any footfalls and watched for any leaf to be out of place.

The enemy was at a better advantage than she was, so she had to do this right and see to her wounds before she passed out again from too much blood loss.

She quietly drew out a kunai in one hand close to her face, waiting for the enemy to show up.

Footfalls announced their arrival in the area she previously occupied.

' _Shit. Thirteen of them._ ' A few more drops of sweat accumulated atop her brow, her cheeks flushed from her rising body temperature. Any other day, thirteen ninja would be doable, facile even, if not for her growing illness and confusion she felt now.

The night aided in concealing her form and ridiculous pink hair from having her appearance given away easily.

Her senses were on high alert once they unsheathed their swords and surveyed the area. She could not distinguish what they wore or if they were rogue ninja, but she had to make her move soon. Eyes full of valor, stance that of defense, she patiently awaited for the right moment to appropriately strike.

She was prone of playing the enigmatic type when she was unsure of a situation and how it would play out, always trying to check the undercurrents before she took things in her hands and later exiting stage left. She was always willing to sacrifice herself for others, but today she needed to come out alive, she needed to play her cards right or she would succumb to her fever or chakra exhaustion.

Thankfully, she was flexible in working out solutions, nearly on par with the Nara genius.

' _There_.' She stated dryly, shooting out her kunai and making a sign for it to multiple to twenty of the projectiles.

Many hit the targets while others grazed their arms while they dodged. Three kunai exploded, alarming the group to move away from the other projectiles in thought they would explode too.

In the commotion, Sakura had made her appearance in the center of the open field, punching the ground with a gloved hand, the ground ensnaring a few shocked shinobi.

' _Nine_.'

"Konoha trash!"

One of the ninja tried to grab her foot from beneath the ground, making her jump away and backflip to dodge oncoming kunai and swinging swords. It was difficult to fight with her ankle being twisted and also being feverish, but she pushed on despite the odds, she had to get back home. She was the Rokudaime. She needed to be there for her village.

She knew she could not resort to bijuu chakra, as it would only alert more enemies her way and rise about suspicion wherever she went.

Perhaps she had been out too long, and news of her "accident" gave an opening for rouges to try and harm her village.

"SHANNARO!" The sound of crushed bones echoed as the assailant flew into the tree, pronounced dead as the tree groaned in its descend to the ground.

' _Eight_.' Her breathing was becoming shallower, her moves more predictable as she fought to evade a swing that wouldn't cleaved off her head and many more lunged for her tiny figure.

She made sure before the fight to discard her Hokage robe and hat into a storage scroll she had with her as it only left her movements slow from the extra fabric, leaving her in an oversized red shirt and spandex shorts.

"Kirigakure no jutsu!" Yelled one of the ninja, snapping Sakura's attention to him. He was brawny and unamused with being ambushed by a mere brat, sending her a malicious grin that promised a slow death for her.

Before the area was obscured in thick mist, she caught sight of his forehead protector, emanating a startled gasp from the girl, forgetting to evade a kunai that ledges into her left calf.

She dropped on one knee due to the impact, panting and wrapping her head around what was happening.

Kirigakure shinobi were fighting her, they had called her Konoha trash. Boiling anger raged in her. She prayed to any deity that the Mizkage wasn't trying to take advantage of Konoha's current predicament and cause more trouble for them.

She had come to regard Mei Terumi highly for her kindness and acceptance and open mindedness in situations, as she did not tolerate any disrespect upon the other Kage. Something was truly not right.

Any way she would have to take some hostages with her and question the Mizukage herself later. She highly doubted Mei would do anything of the sort, but assumptions were one of the most deadly of bitches, and she was not ignorant of the many flaws of human nature.

"Ahh!" The popping sensation of her shadow clone dying made her heart clench slightly at the feeling, one of the own dying, which is why she did not perform clones too often but this occasion she had set two of them on opposite sides of the field to act as her eyes when they were killed.

Muffling a grunt, she made quick work of discarding the kunai from her leg, using a spare moment to close the wound with chakra to prevent more bleeding.

She activated the sharingan and saw where the ninja stood a few yards from her and sent him catapulting in the air, rupturing his organs. Several senbon shot out from her left, deflecting them with her kunai, but one knicked her shoulder, a deep purple color oozing from its sharp tip.

Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her, losing concentration long enough for the brawny man to catch her arm and swing her like a doll and hit the ground with a loud thud.

Her body lay limp, the poison clouding her vision and her limbs to twitch in his hard grasp. He tightened his hold around her fragile neck as he lifted her off the ground and brought her face towards him.

Sakura desperately tried to kick at the man, to no avail, her windpipe being closed off as she struggled to breathe. His eyes glowered at her, spitting in her face.

"You little shit! Your Hokage must be so pompous to think a little bitch like you can easily kill all of us. To think you would win, and give us a chance at stealing the proud Uchiha clan's doujutsu. Or perhaps you are merely a scapegoat, hmm? Talk about will of fire, no matter, I won't kill you, as you will provide us with some useful information since you seem to be the Sandaime's pet." Her mind was going blank at his words, she was even more confused with his gibberish.

' _Sandaime? He died after Orochimaru's attack on Konoha many years ago, surely he was just trying to be cute?'_

 _"_ I gotta hand it to you though, you are one tough brat, too bad you carry too much pride behind that huge forehead of yours. Soon your village will crumble and we will win the war. And I will make good use of that sharingan you have there." His voice became a hard whisper as he brought her even closer to him so she could hear everything he said.

"No way in hell, bastard." She drawled out slowly yet full of austere audacity.

"Hah!" He proceeded to lift her higher and his arm glowed of dangerous blue sparks, enveloping her frame as a thousand birds chirped and shook her body with electricity coursing her veins.

She could barely utter a scream, her trachea only pouring out blood from her mouth to trickle down the length of the Kiri ninja's arm.

He brought her closer to his face again and she wasted no time as he tried to speak to her, she whipped her head back as far as she could and pounded it against his own head, drawing more blood from both of them, causing him to drop her to the ground, clutching his skull in agony.

Wracked with more pain, she activated her Byakugou and watched as her body was enveloped in the ropes, wounds closing and healing as she punched the man to hit the ground, her mangekyou spiraling dangerously at his now trembling body.

"Kamui!" She watched as the trash of a man was sent into the other dimension, making him a hostage of hers.

The mist settled and her other shadow clone made eye contact with Sakura, a hand on the katana that was pierced through the thirteenth man's torso. Sakura nodded in thanks and sent her clone away, her memories flooding the girl.

The yin seal faded away, her conciousness slipping as the seconds passed, before her eyes closed completely and her head made contact with the ground.

' _Damn it..._ '

* * *

The blur of blue and orange darted through the many trees towards training grounds three.

Arms flailed and his breathing labored from being late at the training session again.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He shouted loudly, his goggles pressing against his face as he bounded across the open field to meet his team, who would surely reprimand him of his tardiness again.

He abruptly stopped short as he caught something pink in the corner of his eye, slowly turning and he choked on his breath. There in the field lay a little girl of no older than nine on the ground surrounded by blood, katanas, and Kiri nin from what he saw on the forehead protector's. He was in complete shock, his legs moving on their own as he gently cradled the little girl's head to see if she was still alive. He was utterly peeved and angered that the Konoha girl probably took on the enemy alone and nearly cost her life.

His heart pumped with adrenaline as he tried to feel for a heartbeat. With bountiful relief, he exhaled a deep breath as her heart thumped slowly and her head burned with an evident fever, cheeks tomato red.

He let out a short gasp at her state of attire and how much blood she carried and how much she had to see and fight to protect the enemy from attacking the village perhaps. A series of coughs racked the girl's fragile frame as she carefully opened her eyes a bit to assess her situation. She nearly had a heart attack at the boy's close proximity, hand reaching for a kunai.

He quickly swallowed and held his free hand up in surrender, "Hey now! I'm a Konoha ninja too, I'm just gonna help you out okay?" He added with a soft smile at her, happy when she relaxed in his grip.

He then adjusted her body on his back, arms around her thighs, her head nuzzled in the crook of his neck, making a wide grin spread across his boyish features.

"I'm Obito by the way, and I promise I'll take care of you!" He told her adamantly.

* * *

 **So sorry! Life and school gets in the way so this story and my other one I'm writing will be slow...but I appreciate all of your feedback! Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!**


	3. Saudade

Hello my dear readers,

I hope my prolonged absence has not greatly disheartened anyone from my story, or thought that I have long abandoned its progress. The reasons for my disappearance for over a year occurred as I started college during that time I created my story. Not only was the homework load demanding, but that same year I went through a drastic alteration in my being, one full of grief, self-destruction, negativity, abusive-manipulative friends, bad habits, and so forth, leaving me unrecognizable and pushing those I love away. However, I was able to sever ties with bad people and my true loved ones never left me as I learned how to improve myself and heal slowly. Now, I have found my balance, quit my bad habits, took up on daily meditation, healthy eating, working out, and playing Overwatch with my best friends. This year I am finishing up my senior year of high school, as well as still attending community college along with attending a trade school for experience in the medical field. Thus, my life is nevertheless busy, but I will always be busy, and like with my working out, there are no excuses, I MAKE time for it, so I will once in a while get back to my impending stories as well to keep my adamant readers happy too!

I do apologize again for being gone so long, and for the long author's note, but I am finally healing and focusing more on what's best for myself.

I always love to hear from my fans and thank you to all who enjoy my story and who've written reviews!

Please enjoy my new chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 3 : Saudade **

She felt _everything._ And _everything_ was hurting her.

Her skin crawled and sent agonizingly slow jolts throughout her tiny form, making her shake with tiny spasmodic quivers. The chill of the morning pricked at her skin like hundreds of needles dipped in icy water. Her ankle, trachea, and stab wounds were successfully healed, but her having used her byakogou did not come without repercussions, and given her physical state, who knows what will happen when she wakes up. She needed food, water, shelter, basic survival needs but sleep still sounded teasingly welcoming, stubborn on keeping her eyes shut, attempting to block out the world a bit longer. Sleep was what gave her a peaceful break from the unbearable pain of the outside world and from her own head. Thankfully due to her evident exhaustion and adrenaline rush, her sleep was undisturbed, no night terrors plaguing her mind. The sound of kicked dirt and hasty steps, followed by an arm cradling her head sent signals to her cloudy mind, forcing her to come to her senses. Waking up brought it all crashing down on her, her mind going into overdrive, fighting through the pounding sensations as a hazy shadow loomed over her, face barely visible with the sun peaking out of the clouds on the back of their head. Sakura's eyes widened in vain to see better, instinctively reaching for her kunai as a warning to the intruder.

Raising their free arm up, as the other intruding appendage supported her head, the person quickly explained, "Hey now! I'm a Konoha ninja too, I'm just going to help you out okay?". The voice of a teenage boy spoke, his tone gentle and questionably determined. Nothing was making sense to Sakura, gaze shifty and on high alert, protruding rays of sunlight behind thick dreary clouds making her head hurt more as her pupils were dilated. As her vision focused better, Sakura blinked a few times to make sense of her surroundings. Her dazed orbs flickered to where his metal protector shown, making out the curves and edges of the hidden leaf symbol. Realizing he was indeed a Konoha ninja, Sakura tried to relax a bit despite her feverish state and contracted muscles.

Next, the awful stench invaded her nostrils, instinctively wrinkling her nose upon putting a name for it. The unmistakable fetor of death, blood, and...wet grass?

 _'Was it raining last night?_ ' Her form still quivered and nose sniffled as reality dawned on her, each breath labored as she attempted to maintain composure and focus on the ally in front of her.

"Now I'm no medic, but I have a good friend close by who is, I'll take you to her. Are you alright with me carrying you?" He inquired, trying to calm her as he refused to acknowledge the other dead ninja in close proximity, attempting to elude both himself and the girl from the scene as bile threatened to rise up Obito's throat. Looking between the girl all bloodied and struggling to breathe caused him to sniffle a bit, averting his gaze temporarily as not to worry the girl more, deciding to kick the intrusive piles of rocks away from them, the ones her head laid on top of. If she hit her head really hard she needed to see Rin even more quickly, prompting a shaky sigh from the boy, running a free hand through his hair, seeing how to lift her carefully and get to his team already.

Finding it painful to move her jaw to formulate a response, Sakura took note with irritation that she managed to break her mandible most-likely upon collapsing after the fight, probably hitting her head equally as hard too.

Steadily releasing a sigh through her nose, she made a small raspy noise at the back of her throat in response.

Satisfied with her alertness, the boy thought it safe to delicately lift her onto his back, making sure her torso and legs were supported, her head at an angle that allowed for breathing, instigating a wide grin to spread on his face as her face nuzzled his neck.

He smelled like fresh grass and sweat, much better than the rancid smell of death she was lying in the whole night, taking care of how she rested her head and locked her hand around her other wrist in a headlock, catching a glimpse of the pile of ninja she killed before reverting back to inhaling the favored smell.

"I'm Obito by the way, and I promise I'll take care of you." He told her adamantly.

As Obito started off in careful, yet hurried motions towards his team, he felt the girl noticeably stiffen after he admitted his name, her body shaking, the tremors vibrated on his back, her breathing hitched as she strained to inhale in between hiccups. Her hands tried to keep hold around Obito's neck, trembling and falling limp. His steps, though cautious, seemed to discomfort her more, much to his dismay.

She must be going crazy, mulling over the possibility of...going back in time. Utterly absurd. Yet here she was, being carried around by none other than Obito Uchiha who's objective during the Fourth Great Ninja War was to destroy the real world in exchange for a dream world. In the end, Sakura came to respect the man as he had a change of heart and she had learned more about him and Kakashi. Mentions of the Sandaime, and Kirigakure ninja on the offense against Konoha nonetheless ushering towards the notion that she was somehow, someway, a little girl housing bijuu power and the sharingan in the middle of the Third Ninja War. . Her head pounded again, she couldn't tell if her heart or mind were running faster, she must be mixing fantasy with reality. Maybe it was a side effect of her byakogou, with her body of a child no less...perhaps the poison from the fight didn't wear off with her byakogou? No, not possible...this could have something to do with back when she gave into her rage after Naruto died at her side...Of course it had something to do with back then or else she wouldn't be in this mess undoubtedly...

 _'Oh Kami'_

"Obito...can't hold, on..." Sakura breathed in a barely audible whisper, her words slurred and croaked from her broken mandible and impending fever, slipping off Obito's back. Already missing the warmth of the body, she relentlessly shivered and convulsed more frequently, waiting for impact of the ground again. Obito, having heard the warning, deftly spun around and caught her before her head bashed on the ground, giving him a mini heart attack as he scrambled to get the girl to his team without causing her more discomfort. Kneeling down, he used his knee to help support her back, the Uchiha struggling to quickly take off his navy jacket and wrap the girls' fragile and shivering form as a shield from the cold. The poor thing shook like a leaf, her mouth slightly ajar to take in shallow breaths and her eyes glossed over unseeing and heavily dilated.

Obito cradled the girl bridal style, pressing her close to him to block out the cold and vibrations from his running, making a mad dash to his team. After a couple of minutes, he started calling his teammates out for their attention and for Rin to look at her, worried about the girl as her condition worsened in his arms.

"Obito what're you yelling f-" Kakashi began irately, ready to scold his tardy partner. His words ran short as he caught sight of the bundle his teammate was carrying, Obito's eyes spoke volumes of his worry.

"Obito!" His sensei flash stepped next to him, Kakashi and Rin right behind closing the distance. Obito skidded to a stop, fumbling for the shortest phrase to get his point across.

"Sensei, I found her on my way here. Please help her Rin!"

"The poor thing! I'll do my best Obito." Rin soothingly reassured her troubled friend, helping Obito lay her softly atop a thin blanket retrieved from Rin's pouch, getting right to work on checking the child's vitals and signs if the blood came from any wounds.

"Help her stay on her side, don't restrain her though." Rin ordered.

Minato knelt close to the medic, firmly keeping his palms where Sakura's head and back were, Obito flanking the pinkette, who still wore his jacket, leaving him in his mesh undershirt.

The worried Uchiha looked between the medic and the girl, impatient and taking note of Rin's furrowed brow and tight lip. "Rin, what's going on with her?"

"She is having eclampsia, a type of seizure caused by head injury. Judging from her broken jaw she hit her head hard and with her fever it is also a definite contributing factor. We have to watch out for her and make sure she stays on the blanket as I try to assess other injuries. We can't try to constrict her movements, seizures could take minutes or longer, so we will let it run its course and continue from there." Rin stated evenly, maintaining a sense of professionalism and an anchor to keep everyone calm.

"Affirmative, I see no other injuries, that's good but weird." Rin added after a moment.

"Obito, what happened?" Minato Namikaze stood, keeping an eye on the girl and on the Uchiha, noticeably perturbed by her state of well being.

"Sensei, I-I took a shortcut and caught sight of her wounded and sick on the ground with about a dozen or so Kiri ninja lying dead close to her." Obito explained, voice growing louder with each word as his thoughts compiled and made him angry after recalling what he saw, what the girl had to go through.

Minato and Kakashi exchanged a sideward glance of silent apprehension, the latter crossing his arms, scrutinizing the girl whose convulsions were slowing down after what felt like hours.

Rin ran a soft hand through the girl's hair in a soothing manner, wiping her brow with a wet cloth to help with the fever and sweat. Minato felt sorry for the small child, having taken off his own Jonin vest to let her use as a blanket, rubbing circles on her back to help even her breathing and hiccups.

Obito was fuming. Kakashi, impassive, keeping his gaze averted from the girl to the field.

Finally, Sakura stopped her convulsions, with eyes half-lidded and chest heaving from the strain on her body. Minato supported her head to allow Rin to give her water from a flask. Sakura was coming back to her senses slowly, eyes seeing blobs of colors and her body being supported with no weight-bearing on her part, feeling a weight on her torso, though it kept her warm so she wasn't going to ponder too much on it. Something cool, and crisp touched her chapped lips, exciting neurons at the proximity of water, silently thanking the strangers as she eagerly gulped the water which eased her nerves, feeling the water all the way to her abdomen due to her temperature. Her jaw was healed, but improperly. Water still trickled down the sides of her mouth, unable to properly drink it all or possibly speak with her jaw set incorrectly. The pain was gone, but she will have to reset it and heal it herself.

"Maybe we shouldn't do that." His monotone voice halted the others to look at him quizzically, save for Sakura. She did not want to risk making sudden moves, lying languorously to prevent further exertion, just listening in on their conversation for the moment.

"Excuse me?" Obito challenged curtly, not wanting to deal with Kakashi's cavalier attitude.

Ignoring his teammate deliberately, the Hatake gestured a hand at the girl, "For all we know she could be a spy from Kiri, brought here as a scapegoat and a way past our defenses. We shouldn't waste our time and resources on someone we have no proof over being one of us."

Sakura remained silent, unmoving, in fear the strangers will kill her in her vulnerable state if she so much as flinched at this point now. The people supporting her didn't say a word at first either, promoting her sense of unease and confusion further.

"You insensitive bastard!" riposted the Uchiha jumping up and shooting a hard glare at Kakashi. At the voice, something in Sakura clicked, putting a name to the voice.

 _'Obito! Oh gods! Oh gods I remember now! Damn, damn! I must be with his team now.'_ Peering at the blob of spiky hair was almost to painful to look at, the father of her deceased Naruto was sitting by her, and young Kakashi accusing her of wrongdoings was bringing old memories to plague her again. Pushing them back she focused on their conversation further.

"You are an idiot, Uchiha! Do you not clearly see the kanji written on her neck saying 'Property of Kirigakure'? That itself is a red flag, you never think before you act." Obito stepped back, baffled by his words, quick to turn and sure enough see an inscription on the girl he rescued.

Sakura was left in her own flummox, _'What fucking 'Property'?_ '

"I-I didn't see that! What fucking monsters!"

"You always let your emotions get to you, crybaby. Seeing a hurt little girl made you have a 'speck of dust in your eye' for you to miss something so obvious. Pathetic really."

"Kakashi, do you really have to be so inconsiderably hostile, you prick?" Jabbing a finger at the languid, vulnerable girl. "That is a little girl who has a Konoha headband, and possibly was the reason for those dead Kiri ninja I found her close to. They could have tagged her like a fucking animal! Maybe they wanted to kidnap her or sell her off to gods only know to do what! Have you considered that, Kakashi?" Obito said in a lower tone at the end, leaning towards Kakashi in a nonverbal invitation for a challenge.

Sakura was hardly able to comprehend the words for Obito's upright boldness in her defense without knowing much about her. It warmed her heart all the same.

Without losing a flicker of arrogant composure, the Hatake stood his ground with unamused black orbs staring into fervent ones, retorting haughtily, "It's not all that uncommon, and it's unfortunate. I also find it hard to believe a girl as herself with baggy clothes was able to take down a dozen Kiri ninja without any injuries save for a broken jaw. Either way I care about the safety of the village over one child's life, as you should, Obito."

"Why you-!"

"Obito, Kakashi, that's enough! It is our job to protect the village as it is our job to protect the people and children. If she was indeed an enemy, surely the others would be more discreet with their tactics, and not to leave her exposed out in the open with the elements to fend for herself. If she were with Kiri, she would have died with them by one of us on patrol or at least taken into question, not left for the opportunity to escape. Given our patrol team do not venture out this far and none of our other groups had a fight in this area last night, something triggered Kiri to venture close enough and perhaps this girl was caught in the middle. With Obito's descriptions, a fight broke out either way, with the inscriptions on her neck, a vulnerable spot. We will have to inspect the spot Obito found her at on our way to the hospital. Either way, further inspection and decision will be carried out by the Sandaime." Minato inquired, placing cool fingers to run along the length of the inscription, feeling an ink residue. Should be easily removed after some further scrutiny. They needed to get her out of the cold though, her pulse was irregular he noted internally.

"Better not get too attached to her, Obito. You know what they'll do to her if she is in fact an enemy, right?" Kakashi added, unruffled, serving to further make Obito hot under the collar, ready to deck him.

Before Obito could react, Rin left Sakura to Minato and stepped in the middle of the two boys, firmly pressing her palms on their chests. "You guys stop it! Her fever is getting worse, we need to go!" Rin did not enjoy their usual banter, and felt sorry for the girl. She looked so helpless and damaged, as a healer Rin hoped she was one of their own for the sake of the girl's own life.

At that, Obito sent the Hatake one last warning glance and helped get the little girl alert and do whatever else he could to help.

Sending soothing strings of chakra at her temples, Rin helped coax the girl to fully wake up, "Sweetie, your health is at great risk, so we need you to stay awake for a bit and keep your eyes on us alright? Can you hear me?"

Obito and the others watched intently as the girl stirred and nodded her head a bit, scanning the people around her better with the help of Rin's chakra.

Gently, Minato supported her back as she sat up, Obito by her other side offering a reassuring grin her way, to which she returned the best she could with her crooked jaw bone.

Sakura peered into Rin's kind, chocolate eyes, slowly encasing her hands in her own without breaking eye contact, confusing the medic but letting the girl show her what she wanted.

Sakura left Rin's hands to hover over her mandible, to allow chakra to flow there. Sakura paused for a second, taking a shaky breath and closing her eyes to calm her nerves before making quick work of snapping the bone, sending a sharp jolt of pain throbbing, eliciting a load and pained groan muffled at the back of her throat. Everyone was taken aback by her swift action of self harm, appalling them as they tried to intervene from the girl hurting herself further. "Hey now, don't hurt yourself like that!" Obito practically yelled in a confused panic, reaching to grab her hands. "Wait!" At this Minato and Obito stopped to regard Rin. "I think she's trying to set her mandible back in its proper position. I couldn't heal it properly without hurting her, as she slept with it broken and had to be moved. So I healed it to stop the pain but she isn't trying to hurt herself intentionally." With her motives understood, Rin hurriedly sent soothing undulates of chakra as Sakura already set the bone in its proper position, within a minute or so she would be able to not have speech impairment to worry about.

Everyone looked at Sakura expectantly, Obito still next to her, curiosity almost making him bounce in place. Readying herself, Sakura took a deep breath and began her introduction, testing the mobility of her newly set bone first.

"Hello...I am Sakura Haruno. I am a ninja from Konohagakure. I was...put in a difficult and confusing disposition that led the intervention of Kirigakure ninja." Glancing at everyone except Kakashi, she let it sink in and rambled in her head to make sense of her situation, despite needing some obvious parts to be classified until further notice. "They attacked me, and I had to fight my way out using shadow clones and jutsu I have learned from my mentors. One in particular had an interest in me...for interrogation, and possibly other services." At this Obito and Minato scowled, the former more so, cursing under his breath.

"I had numerous injuries as I was heavily outnumbered, but used a medical ninjutsu to help me survive and heal my wounds. Shortly after finishing them off...I fainted and managed to hit my head and jaw on impact with much force...With my symptoms of irregular palpitations, seizures, confusion, lack of mobility, fever, memory loss, and severe headaches, I am positive I have either internal bleeding or intracranial pressure most known as brain swelling. My right side and arm is mostly immovable, worrying me that I will soon have permanent brain damage if not taken care of stat with surgery. Please take me to Lady Tsunade. If you are all still suspicious I have no problem...meeting up with the Sandaime, even have Jiraiya-sensei, Inoichi Yamanaka and whoever else you want to discuss matters." The team was pondering over her words, taking in the information and slightly surprised at hearing recognizable names whom were regarded highly amongst comrades. It personally pained Sakura to bring up names that stung, feeling a bitter aftertaste from the overwhelming predicament she was placed under. The deities must be punishing her.

"Huh, those people are famous, if not, their names are known past the walls of Konoha at the least." His unmistakable voice broke her out of her trance. "Don't think just saying intelligent phrases and important names will make me believe your story further. Gathering higher nobles in one room with you, either you are such an idiot, or you think whatever plan you and Kiri put in your head will work, well, also makes you an idiot, but a danger nonetheless."

"Would you quit it Hatake!"

Minato drawled out a long sigh and Obito sent Kakashi a warning glance, Rin was still fixated on Sakura, intrigued by her obvious intellect in formulating a diagnosis at a younger age than herself.

Averting her gaze to acknowledge the still-standing Hatake, Sakura settled for looking at his mask, refusing at first to look at his mistrustful gaze. She didn't see the teenage boy in front of her, she saw the face of a dead man, drained of pallor and life, no longer giving her that signature eye-wrinkle smile to assure her everything was going to be alright. Shaking out of her thoughts with a shiver of her body, she reverted back to the present, albeit with much resistance. Everyone she looked at instigating unadulterated emotions brewing in her core, Minato and Kakashi being the hardest to even glance at.

"Well...I don't expect trust or friendship, but as your sensei and yourself have noted, the Sandaime will be the one to decide my fate." With that, he huffed and started off in the direction towards home.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can walk." Sakura admitted apologetically, struggling to force her muscles to work, but her right side felt completely dead, making her panic internally at the thought of losing mobility of half her body, and if it crawled up her jaw and face, she'd be unable to communicate verbally either.

"No worries." A small grin later, the future Yondaime lifted up the bundle in his arms, still wearing Obito's and his jackets. He waited as Obito helped Rin pack up her medical supplies, offering to carry some of the things, to which the kind girl allowed with a giggle. The pinkette knew she left out a few important factors about the fight and how she got to this predicament, or lack of knowledge for that matter, but needed rest and nourishment before enlightening the higher authorities of the future that lay for Konoha. Deciding to do her best at ignoring the fact she was being carried by Minato who resembled too much like Naruto, she slipped in and out of consciousness, not even caring to look when they arrived at the scene of the mass murder from the previous night.

Minato took in the scene in front of him, aghast with eyes wide, not believing what he saw. Obito and the girl known as Sakura weren't kidding about the situation. He never dubbed Obito a liar, but to still see it all laid out for him to witness unsettled him greatly. Rin covered her mouth and Obito refused to stare at anything other than the branch of a tree to his left, showing obvious aversion to what must have unfolded. Kakashi remained all the more apathetic, checking to make sure the others didn't have a pulse, inspecting their swords and the way they gleamed in the light with their blood stains. Biting his lower lip in contemplation, the Yellow Flash took one last glance around before regarding the sleeping child in his arms.

"Obito and Rin come with me to the hospital and report this to Sandaime. Kakashi, you will clean up and sniff out any other suspicious items you can find."

"Understood"

* * *

She was not alone.

Their undeniable voices rang loud and clear as if they were talking right into her ear all the way down to her heart.

"...Don't be like this old man." A distinct feminine voice said.

"Regretfully it's not my decision Tsunade. The council is a great asset of the village, and though I strongly disapprove of their choice, it is in their best interest to take precautions for the village's safety, and it will only be temporary." A man's voice replied.

She could already envision the blonde thrumming her nails irately, tsking at the mention of the council. The smell of tobacco tickled her nose as she watched in her head how the man drew in a breath of smoke with the other arm behind his back.

"She is still my patient and a child for that matter. Her recovery would be severely compromised."

"She is also a child that is thought to have taken on 13 ninja from Kirigakure, not to mention that unmistakable bijuu chakra brewing inside her." Countered a deep baritone voice, shuffling in loud shoes to sit on the window ledge.

"That in itself is proof she has more to her than what we have confirmed already. For that I need her alert and oriented in order for us to have her side of the story."

"And what of the mark on her forehead?" The deep baritone inquired further.

"I can confirm that is indeed a Yin-seal. So she must have activated it during her encounter with the Kiri group if she is in fact one of us and had to fend for herself, bringing her to the state she is in now." Tsunade stated with eased practice.

"Hence, she had to get those powers somehow, which is seemingly impossible especially being a small, fragile thing."

A snort was heard from the Yellow flash, "Sensei, there are prodigy's all throughout the nations and countries, some particularly young, you should know that first-hand."

"We will have to further investigate that is a certain Jiraiya, but we must be open-minded all the same. If it can be avoided, I'd like to not bring more harm towards the child." The Sandaime spoke.

"Hokage-sama, she's awake." Minato announced who was at close proximity to her bed, having noticed her change in breathing and fluttering eyelids in a stubborn attempt to keep them shut.

Having been caught determining her surroundings and listening in, Sakura attempted to open her heavy eyelids, the sound of heels echoed throughout the room that halted at her bedside. She wasn't ready, and probably never would be ready to face people who she knew but didn't know her. To face people she once associated with and knew were supposed to be dead.

Her bed was angled upwards slightly, allowing her to see the occupants in the bland, clean room. There stood Minato, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Tsunade with all their glory, peering down at the bedridden child hooked up on life-support and wires that ran deep into her veins.

Sakura was nearly hyperventilating, the huge lump lodging in her already parched throat. She tried to squirm or move at least a bit, but was found unable to hardly twitch, her efforts proving futile and causing her to become frustrated.

"Sorry kiddo, you won't be moving around for a while longer, especially with the present the council gave you. But you should be able to move and walk again with time." The blonde noted with a sort of penitence for having to subdue to the council's wishes like this.

"The surgery was a success?" Sakura inquired carefully, wondering why her head was still so heavy, worrying what the repercussions were for the swelling and trauma. She did not want any sort of brain damage, she was already convinced of being crazy to think she was really in the past.

"Yes, you are still in the intensive care unit however. Your diagnosis brought to me by Minato's teammate proved correct. We performed a craniotomy to relieve the swelling from caving into tissue and causing permanent brain damage. But we will have to monitor your vitals and see to your recovery otherwise through rehabilitation." Tsunade's tone was professional and matter-of-fact, tapping a manicured finger on her forearm in thought. "It's pretty interesting to me how a little kid like you could be wandering around with higher knowledge of medicine and claim to be from here, yet, there are no files on your existence or affiliation of Konoha. However, given the fact that there was in fact your blood among the scene as lab results came back positive, that does not prove you are from Konoha."

"Tsunade-hime, please, spare me the opportunity of asking the child." The Sandaime calmly intervened, stepping to the opposite side of her hospital bed, wearing a warm, inviting smile upon her, causing the lump to rise further in Sakura's throat that made it difficult to swallow or contain traitorous tears.

"How are you feeling?" Knowing the third Hokage was a kind-hearted man, and loved children, she was not naïve that he also had to do things behind closed doors that were not meant to be known to the sensitive. He had a whole village to protect, as she had that responsibility as well, she had a small feeling he was being nice to get her to confide more easily if given the right amount of care. But how could she contain herself after suppressing her feelings in for years, all to have figure after figure reappear in front of her from her past? Her heart was dead inside, her head throbbing and holding a heavy weight, her right arm and leg numb, and her forehead burned. Taking a few shaky breaths, the girl cleared her throat in an effort to push the lump down. "I'm fine, Sandaime-sama." She hoped her weak smile was convincing enough.

The man peered in her dim eyes and knew she was lying, but chose to venture elsewhere. "Do tell, my dear, youu seem to have gotten yourself in a lot of trouble." He tested carefully, earning the full attention of everyone in the room. If she could press further into the mattress and disappear she would. Their piercing gazes were undressing her of her thin wall harboring raw feelings threatening to pool over like a dam crumbling under the weight of holding up a river.

"I do plan on informing all that I know, but first, as Namikaze-san and his team may have already parroted about my intervention with the group from Kiri, I left out a few important details that were classified." At this, Minato raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.

"I have proof of my identification, and I have managed to contain one of the ninja attacking me as hostage. If you would allow me, I'd like to retrieve the hostage as well as my identification both stored in separate compartments." Sakura noted, seeing as her baggy, blood-splotched clothes were replaced with the hospital gown, her left wrist wearing a thin metal bracelet, and her right arm was hidden beneath the sheets from view.

"That is indeed interesting news. I must tell you first where you stand from this point on. The council of this village requested you to be put under chakra-blocking bracelets, and to be under supervision for a minimum of thirty days. Depending on your behavior, your days may be prolonged before you are free to walk the streets without contraints. But since Tsunade-chan and I don't agree with their decision, your bracelets will be allowed to be lowered in frequency, letting you have access to 10-15 percent of your chakra stores, instead of just 2 percent, as you need chakra to live as well as recover more quickly, though I presume you are already aware of that. Do you adhere to these conditions?"

"Affirmative, Sandaime-sama." She was chained, but at least she wasn't sentenced to death for now, doing her damned best to keep her composure and keep thoughts of Danzo being alive in the back, dark corners of her encephalon.

"Good, now anything else you have to add before I turn it back over to Tsunade-hime?" Inquired the man, kindly being considerate on her behalf.

"I have more things to share with you, but I would much rather have Inoichi Yamanaka come in and see all of it through my eyes. Please. I don't know if I could be able to say it all...at once." Sakura practically begged in a hushed tone, averting her eyes to look downcast at the intruding metal circles and metal rods and parts intricately attached to , trying to keep herself composed. She would not be able to explain all that has happened, or why some things have happened without surely breaking down like she did when Obito rescued her.

The occupants exchanged glances amongst each other, "That is alright Sakura." Not Surprised they knew her by name, she saw Jiraiya came down from his perch on the window, popping his back as he announced before leaving the room, "I'll send for Ibiki to deal with the hostage too then."

Sakura tilted her head with much strain to peer at her invisible appendage, feeling a sense of anxiety over knowing she still felt no esthesia from her right side back when she woke up to meet Team Minato.

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama..." The girl began, shaking and feeling a cold sweat coming washing over her. "What were the fallouts for the surgery?" She almost did not want to know for fear of the worst, but her mind persisted on knowing how her life was affected as a medical ninja.

The addressed woman exhaled a long sigh, uncrossing her arms and adjusting her posture, signaling Sakura she had unfavorable news to break to her.

"We had to shave your hair off to do the surgery, thus you are heavily bandaged on the head to let the sutures heal. With you being found by Obito, you had gone with the swelling and internal bleeding for several hours. Your brain's left hemisphere was the side mostly affected, which controls mobility and nerve impulses for the right side of your body..." Sakura was already bracing for impact of harsh news, whatever it may be. Keeping eyes on Tsunade, her mind racing for answers ahead of the blonde. "Due to your prolonged situation without immediate help, the nerves were nearly ineffective, though some were salvageable, and we had to work on bringing back sensation to them. However, with you housing bijuu chakra, it gives you a heightened immune system, which made the stem cells used on you to grow back and heal the tissue and nerves rejected as foreign objects. With my own proficiency of medical ninjutsu, there's only so much chakra can do for dead nerves, thus, why I used stem cells. When that failed, I had to remove them as they were beginning to rot and affect your right leg further in the process, as the loss of sensation traveled down farther." The busty woman paused, walking over to where Sakura's right arm lay, uncovering the impending reality, as Sakura saw what her arm and leg had become.

"We put you under hard anesthetics that temporarily blocked off the demon's chakra to weaken your defenses and created metal prosthetic rods and parts that are intricately connected on your skin and intravenously as well. Several spinal disks were replaced with metal ones to help connect the metal parts to your brain to allow you to have use of them. You underwent a couple more procedures while in your comatose state to help save your arm and leg. The sensations will come back within a week or so, you'll be able to feel touch and move your fingers again, then you may practice walking and putting stress on your body with exercise while in rehab."

Sakura just stared at her alienated appendages. There was more metal than actual skin. Calming her breathing, Sakura looked at the patient blonde. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I am grateful for your hard work and efforts on my behalf." At least she would be still able to move around, to which she really was grateful for, but still was scarred upon seeing what she had become.

 _'There are ninjas without appendages at all and other mishaps, but why utilize so much on me?'_

"Don't thank me yet, brat. That's if all goes well. I should have asked for your consent before experimenting on you as well, but I figured I'd try something else I've been working on. Though this is the first time it's ever been done, there may be lots of flaws and chances for other things to go wrong. First you have to prove yourself innocent."

"But, why would you do so much to keep me alive and give me my mobility if I could be an enemy?" Sakura asked, watching her mentor's reactions cautiously.

"Hmm, because I am a doctor. I do my best to keep others healthy and well, plus I would like to know how you got that Yin-seal."

Before anything else could be said, Jiraiya stepped in the room followed by Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanka of the interrogation unit.

Now she had to see her best friend's dad. Given it was her own fault for asking he be there, she felt the anger rise up from her core with so much overwhelming occurrences happening.

She was the one there for Ino when her father was killed by the war, letting her beautiful face hide in her shoulder as she rubbed her back, encouraging her to cry out her pain for her loss. She was there when everyone died, dropping like flies as the war progressed. Granted Ino was one of the few to have survived, her screams and cries sent Sakura in a fit of nostalgia, losing focus of the world for a moments notice. Inoichi left an impact on her life as he was always kind and caring of her like a daughter as well, even when her and Ino drifted apart by rivalry at the academy, only to later come together again bonded like sisters.

"Sakura." The Sandaime directly asked for her attention.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The girl responded almost absent-mindedly.

"We would like to begin now. I will take off the bracelets to allow you to summon your hostage and documents before we delve into your mind." Without wasting time, the Hokage carefully lifted her wrist as if she would shatter into a million shards, which she felt she would at that point. Undoing the bracelets from both wrists, Sakura concentrated. "I will forewarn you, I have obtained a doujutsu that will shock you all, but please know all your questions will be answered once my mind is looked at. With that, she paid no heed to her surroundings and focused on the center of the room, activating her Mangekyou sharingan, "Kamui!"

All the inhabitants were speechless, others drawing out weapons and closing the distance with having them placed where her neck was. Sakura made no movement, as the Sandaime was shell-shocked and Jiraiya had was already in his Sage mode, Inoichi and Ibiki, still on offense, their kunai threatening.

No one breathed or blinked, Sakura knowing this would be the reaction, still summoned the hostage who was trapped for over 4 days in the other dimension, for all to see in the middle of the room as he was lying on the floor, evidently exhausted, wounded and hungry. His breathing was labored, confusion and resentment plastered on his face as he scanned the room. Once he saw Sakura, his face contorted into a full on glare, snarling out vulgar at her. He wasted no time in lunging for her, seeing as she was in a vulnerable state, but was caught by Minato in mid-air. Minato threw him back on the ground before the assailant was able to fight back. Ibiki and Inoichi withdrew their kunai from Sakura, Jiraiya deactivated his Sage mode. Ibiki then took over, grabbing the Kiri hostage with both hands behind his back, pushing him forward towards the interrogation unit for questioning.

"That was certainty a surprise, as your eyes appear to be normal in the first place." The Sandaime noted after a moment, inhaling from his pipe.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, but your reactions towards the Uchiha's doujutsu was much more aggressive than confronting me about the bijuu chakra and Yin-seal. That to me makes me wonder if the relationship between your village and the clan is already dwindling or not.

At her perceptive response, Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at her with piqued curiosity, while Minato glanced at his superiors, baffled by what she was implying, expressing things as if she was already aware of something. Inoichi just regarded her with a stern gaze, looking at Sandaime for further instruction.

"We have much to discuss now don't we, Sakura?" Earning a slight nod for Inoichi, the Yamanaka began looking inside her head.

He began swimming through her subconscious, coming across a forlorn-looking figure made of white lines, her brow reading "Inner". Sakura's alternate personality eyed the figure with sadness, guiding him through the maze to show him and the others in the room of her life, leaving out some parts for Sakura to tell Sandaime another time when they were alone. She was already meddling in the past and was affecting so many lives just by her interference. She and Inner did not want her friends to not be born or have other negative alterations occur by revealing every single detail for all to see.

* * *

They know.

They all know now. She was a little girl sent back into the past. She had jumped from one war to another. They now knew how she came to be who she was, how she obtained the Sharingan, what happened to her loved ones, how the Uchiha were massacred, how Naruto impacted her life, among other things.

Throughout the whole process she was mute and unmoving, not acknowledging anyone even after it was all finished. The Sandaime said some words about his sorrow for her loss, but she was too far gone for her to even comprehend them. She wanted to be alone.

She wanted to be alone and cry. So she did. She cried for those she lost, for those she failed to save. She cried while regarding her new appendages disdainfully. She cried for hours in the hospital bed. They all left her alone and she was plagued by her thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder. Sakura was broken, and was left to face her saudade. Her mouth opened several times in silent screams. Her head throbbed of the weight and pain. Her jaw ached from her hysterics. She missed them. Oh gods, she missed them all. She still did not know why she was in the past, but it didn't change her feelings of solitude and failure. Sakura had no memory of falling asleep amidst her hysterics, but sleep wasn't any better.

* * *

Day 10, she was able to flex her fingers and wiggle her toes.

Day 18, she could get out of bed and walk a few shaky steps before toppling over, usually taking any obstacles with her.

By day 22, she was allowed to walk outside the rehab center, being watched over by a couple of ninja from a distance, never helping her if she fell. It never mattered to her either way, she was determined to do things on her own accord, refusing any help as she continuously struggled. She welcomed the pain, it was an old friend of hers, they've known each other for years. Sakura was just happy to be out of bed, her head healed completely, the bandages off as her head was covered with a hat, a layer of pink hair growing underneath. Her hospital gown was replaced with a simple red shirt and black shorts, leaving her feet barefoot to feel the soft grass tickle her toes.

Taking another couple steps, her foot caught a small pebble and sent her faltering again, catching herself with force. "Hey! Let me help you with that!" Came a boy's voice to her left. She caught sight of him running towards her appearing to be around her physical age, with short curly black hair, obsidian eyes adorned with the longest eyelashes Sakura has ever seen. Without letting her respond, the boy reached her, wrapping his left arm around her waist and adjusting her right arm full of metal around his shoulder, gently lifting Sakura up while supporting her weight. He gave her a cheerful smile, to which Sakura lost track of her thought for a second.

"I-I'm fine, I don't need help, thanks." She tried to retort, but the boy wouldn't have any of it.

"No, you aren't fine." He replied sternly. "I am not going to leave a person to fend for themselves like that. I think you're pushing yourself pretty hard, it won't do you much good if you don't have a break or two in between."

 _'What have I gotten into now?_ ' Sakura thought with apprehension. She did not want to be a liability and needed to get her mobility back in full use if she wanted to be useful.

"I'm pretty stubborn when I want to do things on my own."

"Well I'm known to be quite stubborn on helping others as well." He replied with a cheeky grin, continuing to guide her forward with most of her weight on him.

"I don't even know you." She retorted, getting irritated, trying to stop him from carrying her forward, it didn't help he was a bit taller than her so her feet barely brushed the earth.

"That's strange, I thought it was rude to ask for someone's name without saying yours first."

Not wanting to argue with the kid that he was the one to intervene on her space first, she begrudgingly said, "Sakura Haruno."

"It's my pleasure to meet you Sakura, I'm Shisui Uchiha."

* * *

That concludes this chapter! With over 8,000 words, this took me almost a whole week to compose. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed my new chapter and I also hope you all had wonderful times with the holidays!

Adieu!


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